Macquarie puts tower operator Global Tower on the block: source

(Reuters) - Global Tower Partners, a U.S. wireless tower operator, is up for sale and may fetch more than $4 billion, according to a person familiar with the asset.

Other telecom tower operators as well as infrastructure funds are expected to have a look at the largest privately held operator of U.S. cell towers, the person said on Tuesday.

New York-based fund Macquarie Infrastructure Partners and Sydney-based Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group bought the Boca Raton, Florida, based provider of outsourced antennae site facilities in 2007 from buyout group Blackstone (BX.N) in a deal that gave Global Tower an enterprise value of $1.4 billion at that time.

Macquarie declined to comment. Global Tower was not immediately available for comment.

Global Tower owns, manages or leases more than 16,000 wireless sites, including 6,400 telecommunications towers throughout the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica, according to its website.